Forever and 10 Seconds
by fernfury
Summary: Jade has always been different. She isn't a normal Saber Toothed Tiger, with her long tail and lack of fangs. She's always been alone, and all she wants is to know there's someone out there like her. OCXOC, some ShiraXDiego.
1. Prologue

**Hey guys. So this is a sequel to my Story, A New Way of Life. I hope you like it. Sorry it took me forever to post, I have a busy life. Deal with it. Please Review and tell me what you think. I will try to update soon but I have like 6 other stories, school, and life to worry about too. Hope you all like it!**

**I don't own Ice Age ( And remember it, 'cause I'm not repeating it every chapter.)**

Shira and Diego watched their three cubs wrestling in the meadow. They were only 5 months old (So, like 3 years old in our years) and were full of energy.

There was a light orange brown cub with white stripes named Tasha. She was always daddy's little girl, very smart, and an excellent fighter.

Then there was Cato, a silver cub with black stripes. He was the strongest and the only boy cub of the group.

Lastly, there was Jade. Jade was different from any other cub. She didn't resemble her parents. She didn't have saber fangs. She had a long tail, soft dark fur, and bright green cat eyes. She was also smaller in build than her sibling were, and not nearly as strong. She was the fastest of them all, though. And with time she would probably be able to climb trees with the right practice. Jade liked to keep to herself, away from all the other kids that teased her for being so different.

So, Diego and Shira watched as their two saber cubs play fought, and the other one practiced stalking a butterfly.

Jade was different, buts that's what this story is all about.


	2. 15 years later

**Alright, here's the second chapter for F10 (short for Forever and 10 seconds. Sorry it's been such a long time, I have a lot of other stories and stuff happening in life as well. Hope you like this chapter! Enjoy! Please Review!**

Jade sat silent and motionless in the tree, her dark coat blending perfectly in with the shadows of the dark green leaves. Her emerald green eyes scanned the ground, searching for her prey. There was a disturbance in bushes and a reddish brown tigress saber, a brown spotted saber tigress, and a light orange tigress saber with silver stripes came out from hiding in the bushes.

"I can't find her." The brown spotted one said.

"Well, then look harder Tanya!" The reddish brown one ordered.

"Relax, Taylor. We'll find her." The light orange and silver one said.

"I know, Tasha. Alright, spread out! I'll stay here and you guys go search the forest. If you do find her, come back here and we'll attack together." Taylor ordered. "Tanya, go east." Then she turned to Tasha. "Tasha, head west." Tasha nodded and headed out. Then, it was just Jade and Taylor.

**Jade's POV**

Yep, this is my life. I'm the misfit of the island and everyone my age hates me. Some adults hate me too, and pretty much everyone younger than me is scared of me. I've even got my own group of haters. Tanya, who's really dumb. Tasha, my own sister who's had it out for me since I was born. And last but not least, Taylor. She's stuck up and prissy, and we absolutely hate each other. Not only that, but because her and her brother were the last ones to wash up on the island, everyone pity's her and she can get away with everything. We've been sworn enemies since we've been six, and that's not letting up anytime soon.

As for right now, their trying to find me so they can make fun of me again. I've always been different, I don't know why. I have different fur than most sabers, I'm smaller. I've got different features, and my fur is softer and darker. It's also an incredibly rare shade of black. The most striking difference is that I have a long tail and absolutely no fangs. I've still got canine teeth, but they're not saber teeth, but they're still really sharp. That's the main reason I'm made fun of. They say I'm not a real saber. I'm a nothing, I have no kind. They also pull on my tail.

So, now we're back to the beginning. I'm different, and currently being stalked by a bunch of teenage girls that hate me, and have no idea that I have a huge advantage over them right now.

When I think that the others aren't nearby anymore, I silently jump from the tree onto the ground. "Hello Taylor."

She jumps and whips around to look at me. I smirk.

"How long have you been there?" She asks.

"How long have you been here?" I say, mimicking her voice.

"About 7 minutes."

"That's funny. I've been here for about 12." I retort back at her. She looks surprised. "Awe. Did the big bad tigress forget to look in the trees?" I say mockingly.

"Shut up!" she yells.

"Make me!" I challenge. She growls and starts to move towards me.

"_Wrong choice"_ I say in my mind and then move out of the way as she jumps and lands where I was just standing. She growls and launches herself at me again. I move out of the way, this time dragging my claws on her shoulder while she jumps by.

She growls in my face, and I hiss at her. Taylor tries to swipe her paw at me, but misses. I'm already clawing her ear, well out of harm's way from her claws.

Taylor leaps around, but see can't find me. I laugh from a tree. She walks around on the ground clueless and confused.

"Why don't you come down on the ground and fight like a real saber you freak!" She jeers. "Oh wait. You're not a real saber! You're nothing!" That hurts, but I've learned to ignore it. It doesn't have any effect on me anymore; I've heard it too often.

"Oh, Taylor. Stupid, stupid Taylor." I say, jumping to another tree. "I would have thought that after nine years, you would have been smarter than to challenge me to a fight." I move trees again.

"I'm stronger than you!" Taylor says at the tree I was just in.

"Yes." I say, and then jump to the next tree. "But that hasn't gotten you very far has it." Jump. "Because as far as I can see, you've got a clawed shoulder, and I don't have a single scratch." Jump.

"Well that's because you're hiding up in the trees like a coward" She yells

I jump down from the tree I'm in. "Why are you yelling at trees?" I say, smirking. She growls at me. "I'll show who the coward is." A snarl fiercely and then pounce at her.

She tries the same dodging tactic I used earlier, but I'm too quick, and she hasn't had enough practice. I claw her ear and shoulder, causing her to bleed, and I know how much she hates blood.

"Why don't you start fighting like a real saber and not like a girl?" I taunt.

"You're not a real saber." She growls.

"I know." I say, leaping over her and scratching her back with my claws. "I'm better."

She snarls at me and I snarled back, even more viciously. We pounced at each other I bit her leg. At the same time, I felt a stinging in my ear. This only caused me to bite down harder until she yelped in pain, and I let go.

Taylor limped away, calling for Tanya and Tasha.

"Who's the coward now!" I yelled at her. Then I jumped into a tree and made my way to the pond in the middle of the forest, which was inaccessible by ground. This is where I always go when I want to be alone, and the only people that can really get to me are the hyraxes and my uncles Crash and Eddie, but they generally know to leave me alone when I come here.

As I looked into the pond, I see that Taylor has taken out part of my ear. Now, in my left ear, there is a triangular notch.

_Oh well._ I think to myself. _Just another scar. This one's going to be hard to hide from Mom though._ I headed home and leaped out of a tree into the clearing where my herd lived. Yes, herd. I am one of only 5 sabers that have ever lived in a herd. Not that I think that's a bad thing.

"Hey, I'm back." I yell. My parents turn to see me, and I can see the shock on their faces when they see my ear.

"What happened to you!?" My mom says and runs over to me. I move away before she tries to lick my ear. She's really protective of me for some reason.

"Mom! I'm fine. I say, pushing her away. "I just got into another fight, that's all."

"Another fight, Jade?" My dad says. He sighs. "That's the fifth one this month."

"Sixth actually." I corrected cheekily.

"You've got to stop getting into fights with people." My mom said.

"I don't start them. I just accept the challenge." I argue.

"Still, you should try and make some friends instead of pushing away everyone you meet." She says.

"None of them like me, Mom! Don't you see! They all think I'm a freak! I yell, leaping into the trees and racing away towards the pond.

"Jade come back!" my Dad yells after me. But it's too late. I'm not going back.

**So, here is the first look into the life of Jade. She's 15 for the story. And Ellie and the other teens are still the same age as they were in the 4****th**** Ice Age. Hope you enjoy this! I will try to come up with another chapter soon! If you have any ideas, please give them too me! (I will give you credit for the ideas I use from reviewers or messages."**


	3. Ryder

'_**Italics' = thoughts**_

Jade's POV

I ran through the forest, fighting back tears.

'_They never understand. I don't have to go back. I can live in the clearing. I know how to take care of myself.' _I decide in my head.

I stop and stay still in the trees, making sure no one is following me, not that it's easy to track someone who travels through trees. Once I see that no one has been following me, I jump down from the trees and travel for a bit by foot so I have a bit of a break.

'Snap'

I turn my head to where I hear a twig snap and see an antelope nibbling on some grass, completely oblivious to my presence. I get into a crouching position and stalk over to it through the shadows.

'_Just a few more steps closer.' _I tell myself as I'm almost in striking distance of the antelope.

There's a laugh in the close distance, and the antelope bolts away before I can catch it. I sigh, cursing under my breath, and jump back into the trees, knowing what follows the laugh.

As I expected, Taylor, Tasha, and Tanya emerge into the clearing. I imagine myself slapping them and mentally laugh. They start laughing again and I hear my name, and the laugh goes away.

'_Why, of all people, do they have to hate me?!'_

"She ran away like a coward." I hear Taylor say to her friend and my traitor sister. '_Lying snob.'_

I silently move away from their obnoxious faces and continue to the pond. The clearing with the pond has a cliff on one side, mostly covered in moss, with a small ledge that forms a shelter and a shelf to sit on. The clearing is also inaccessible from the ground because of the thick forest and the thorn bushes surrounding it.

I stare at my reflection. "Why does everyone hate me?" I ask myself.

"Why would they hate you?" I hear a voice behind me say.

I whip around to come face to face with another saber. Except, he's not a saber. He looks exactly like me, but with light golden brown fur with black and dark brown spots. And his eyes are an amber colour instead of green.

"Can I help you?" He says, and I shake my head, realizing that I've been staring at him. Then I growl at him.

"How did you find me?" I say.

"Well, I was just jumping through the trees…" He starts.

"Wait. You can run through trees to?" I interrupt.

"Yeah? Why does that surprise you?"

"I thought I was the only one who could do it."

"Well, you're not. Now do you want me to continue, or are you just going to keep changing the subject?"

"Sorry, continue." I say.

"As I was saying, I was jumping through the trees, and I saw this black moving blur, so I followed it here, and found you." He finished.

"Okay, listen to me." I start. "You cann_ot_ tell anyone about this place. Capiche?"

"Alright! Relax!" He said. "And what's so special about this place that you want to keep a secret anyway?"

"It's inaccessible from the ground, and I'm one of only three people that know about it." I say. "Well, four now."

He pauses for a moment, and then looks at me curiously. "What's your name?" He says finally. I go back to looking at my reflection in the water. I can hear him take a step forward. "I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours." He persuades.

I sigh. "Jade." I whisper under my breath.

"What?"

"My name is Jade." I repeat louder.

He nods. "I'm Ryder."

"Well, nice to meet you, _Ryder_." I say sweetly, then growl. "Now leave."

"You really don't like being around other people, do you?" He says, laughing a bit and taking another step closer.

"I've never been a people person. No one understands me." I say defensively, taking a step back.

"I know exactly what you mean." Ryder says, looking down at his paws. "Just because I don't look like the other sabers, doesn't mean that I'm feelingless. None of them ever seemed to understand."

"You were different too?" I blink athim.

Ryder nods. "It's a long story."

"I've got time."

Then Ryder sighs, and begins to speak.

**Hey! Sorry for taking so long to update! I have a REALLY busy life. Anyways, here's the new chapter! Also, if you guys can come up with about 4-5 others like Ryder and Jade, that would be awesome! Send me names or descriptions if you have any ideas! (Reviews or message)That would be awesome of you guys! Please review!**


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